Prosecution Insights
Last updated: April 18, 2026
Application No. 17/933,589

HYBRID MANUFACTURING OF ACCESS TRANSISTORS FOR MEMORY

Final Rejection §102
Filed
Sep 20, 2022
Examiner
PAGE, STEVEN MITCHELL CHR
Art Unit
2812
Tech Center
2800 — Semiconductors & Electrical Systems
Assignee
Intel Corporation
OA Round
2 (Final)
83%
Grant Probability
Favorable
3-4
OA Rounds
2y 4m
To Grant
92%
With Interview

Examiner Intelligence

Grants 83% — above average
83%
Career Allow Rate
359 granted / 433 resolved
+14.9% vs TC avg
Moderate +9% lift
Without
With
+8.6%
Interview Lift
resolved cases with interview
Typical timeline
2y 4m
Avg Prosecution
33 currently pending
Career history
466
Total Applications
across all art units

Statute-Specific Performance

§101
3.4%
-36.6% vs TC avg
§103
38.4%
-1.6% vs TC avg
§102
36.1%
-3.9% vs TC avg
§112
21.5%
-18.5% vs TC avg
Black line = Tech Center average estimate • Based on career data from 433 resolved cases

Office Action

§102
DETAILED ACTION Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102 The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action: A person shall be entitled to a patent unless – (a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. Claim(s) 1-5, 17, and 19 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by PARK et al. (US 20160336327 A1, hereinafter Park) With regards to claim 1, Park discloses an integrated circuit (IC) device, (FIGS. 5-14B) comprising: a support; (substrate 200) a first circuit (circuit of left region CLR, see FIGS. 5, 6, and 14) over a first portion (left region CLR) of the support; a second circuit (circuit of left region CLR, see FIGS. 5, 6, and 14) over a second portion (right region CLR) of the support; a scribe line (scribe line SCL) between the first circuit and the second circuit; and one or more electrical traces (at least plate electrode 270 of devices 220a) extending over the scribe line. (See FIGS. 5 and 14B) With regards to claim 2, Park discloses the IC device according to claim 1, wherein the scribe line is between at least a portion of the one or more electrical traces and the support, and wherein the one or more electrical traces couple one or more components of the first circuit with one or more components of the second circuit. (see FIGS. 5 and 14B, showing the scribe line SCL between the electrode 270 and the substrate 200, and electrode 270 physically couples the components) With regards to claim 3, Park discloses the IC device according to claim 1, wherein: the first circuit comprises transistors (left transistors comprising left bit lines 240 and active regions 205) of a first transistor architecture, the second circuit comprises transistors (right transistors comprising right bit lines 240 and active regions 205) of a second transistor architecture, and the first transistor architecture and the second transistor architecture are different transistor architectures of a set of a recess channel array transistor (RCAT) architecture, (See FIG. 14B, showing the recessed transistors) a fin-based transistor architecture, a nanoribbon-based transistor architecture, a nanosheet-based transistor architecture, and a nanowire-based transistor architecture. With regards to claim 4, Park discloses the IC device according to claim 3, further comprising one or more layers of capacitors (capacitors CAP) over the first circuit, wherein individual transistors of the first circuit are coupled to individual capacitors of the one or more layers of capacitors forming a plurality of memory units. (See FIG. 14B) With regards to claim 5, Park discloses the IC device according to claim 4, wherein an individual memory unit of the plurality of memory units includes one transistor of the transistors of the first circuit and a plurality of capacitors of the one or more layers of capacitors. (See FIG,. 14B, showing the multiple capacitors attached to the transistors) With regards to claim 17, Park discloses an integrated circuit (IC) device, (FIGS. 5-14B) comprising: a support; (substrate 200) a memory array, comprising a first circuit (circuit of left region CLR, see FIGS. 5, 6, and 14) over a first portion (left region CLR) of the support and one or more layers of capacitors (left capacitors CAP) over the first circuit, wherein the first circuit includes transistors of a first transistor architecture, (left transistors comprising left bit lines 240 and active regions 205) and wherein an individual memory unit of the memory array includes one of the transistors of the first circuit coupled to one or more capacitors of the one or more layers of capacitors; (see FIG. 14B) and a second circuit (circuit of left region CLR, see FIGS. 5, 6, and 14) over a second portion (right region CLR) of the support; wherein the second circuit includes transistors of a second transistor architecture. (right transistors comprising right bit lines 240 and active regions 205, see FIG. 14B) With regards to claim 19, Park discloses an integrated circuit (IC) device, comprising: a support; (substrate 200) a first memory array (memory array of left region CLR, see FIGS. 5, 6, and 14) over a first portion of the support; and a second memory array (memory array of right region CLR, see FIGS. 5, 6, and 14) over a second portion of the support, wherein the first memory array includes memory units of a first memory architecture, and the second memory array includes memory units of a second memory architecture. (see FIG. 14B, showing the memory architecture) Allowable Subject Matter Claims 6-16, 18, and 20 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims. None of the cited references teach or suggest, either alone or in combination, at least “…includes a transistor Ti1 and N hysteretic capacitors coupled to the transistor Tij, wherein a capacitor CAPk is one of the N hysteretic capacitors where k is an integer between 1 and N, and a plateline PLk is a plateline of the P platelines that is coupled to the capacitor CAPk of the memory unit MUi; that is coupled to the bitline BLj.” Conclusion The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure. YANG et al (US 20220293546 A1) – Device having interconnects 108 in the scribe region 12. Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to STEVEN M Page whose telephone number is (571)272-3249. The examiner can normally be reached M-F: 10:00AM-6:00PM. Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice. If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Christine S. Kim can be reached at 571-272-8548. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300. Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000. /STEVEN M PAGE/Primary Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2812
Read full office action

Prosecution Timeline

Sep 20, 2022
Application Filed
Apr 17, 2023
Response after Non-Final Action
Nov 04, 2025
Non-Final Rejection — §102
Mar 26, 2026
Response Filed
Apr 10, 2026
Final Rejection — §102 (current)

Precedent Cases

Applications granted by this same examiner with similar technology

Patent 12604513
SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE
2y 5m to grant Granted Apr 14, 2026
Patent 12581643
SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE AND METHOD FOR FABRICATING THE SAME
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 17, 2026
Patent 12575089
MEMORY DEVICE WITH TAPERED BIT LINE CONTACT
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 10, 2026
Patent 12568611
MEMORY DEVICE WITH CELL PADS HAVING DIAGONAL SIDEWALLS
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 03, 2026
Patent 12568845
CHIP SCALE SEMICONDUCTOR PACKAGE HAVING BACK SIDE METAL LAYER AND RAISED FRONT SIDE PAD AND METHOD OF MAKING THE SAME
2y 5m to grant Granted Mar 03, 2026
Study what changed to get past this examiner. Based on 5 most recent grants.

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Prosecution Projections

3-4
Expected OA Rounds
83%
Grant Probability
92%
With Interview (+8.6%)
2y 4m
Median Time to Grant
Moderate
PTA Risk
Based on 433 resolved cases by this examiner. Grant probability derived from career allow rate.

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